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05th Aug 2016

Nation in mourning as England favourite James Milner quits international football

Goodnight sweet prince

Tom Victor

Saying goodbye is hard.

There were some of us who never thought we’d see the day when James Milner stepped away from the international fold.

But the Liverpool midfielder has hung up his England boots after 61 senior caps and 46 (forty-six!) under-21 appearances.

Those caps brought a wealth of happy memories, like that time he came on as a 81st-minute sub against Croatia in 2009 with England already 5-1 up, or when he got a full run-out for that mile-a-minute goalless draw against Ireland in 2015.

He managed to go out on a high, with a glorious three minutes of magic at the European Championships in France.

Fans were lost for words after the former Leeds United, Newcastle United (oh yeah, he played for Newcastle), Aston Villa and Manchester City man called it quits, and you could almost picture them shedding a tear or two as they typed out their tributes.

https://twitter.com/DannyOreilly_1/status/761577613731201024

https://twitter.com/NapoleonKopa/status/761582280431337472

https://twitter.com/worldfootyfan/status/761579986486714370

https://twitter.com/stu_89/status/761578490542100480

https://twitter.com/UrmstonLordMUFC/status/761580785673576449

There was at least one positive, however, as Milner stepping away from the team gives Sam Allardyce a great opportunity to build on Wayne Rooney’s impressive reinvention as a midfield supremo.

It also means Milner’s club team-mate Jordan Henderson has a clear path to first-team action in an England shirt, after making such a great impression at Euro 2016.

https://twitter.com/FamousCPFC/status/761578624801800192

Thanks for everything, James. We know how much you’re going to be missed.

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